God’s People are Rediscovering their Divine Legacy in such a time as this by Dennis Petersen

You’re not alone if you feel horrified by the perverse and corrupt wickedness being exposed openly in our society’s mountains of influence.

Truly, the manufactured political crisis of a highly questionable health emergency is tragic.  But God has been using it to expose unimaginable corruption and ignorance.  Now, He’s using all of it to generate awakening and repentance.  

In the post-Civil War generations, Christian pastors en masse, began failing their Biblical assignment. What’s that? Ephesians 4:12-14 tells us.  It’s for…

“…the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…”  And that is expected to result that we would all grow up to maturity… no longer children… being tossed around by the trickery of deceitful men.

Doesn’t it make sense that should mean that the saints should all be actively prepared to disciple their own young people to be the influencers for righteousness in THIS nation?

But think of what happened.  The generation that survived the Civil War created the industrial revolution, ushering humanity into the Space Age.  It took only a century of growing, but eventually unimagined national prosperity reduced a spoiled and entitled generation to face the possible disaster of becoming another third world socialist country.

But God, who is “rich in mercy,” continues to open eyes and hearts… even in the crucibles of economic pain and suffering.  As faithful servants of Christ deepen their roots to intercede for others and show self-less charity to those truly in need, don’t you think this hour of refining fire will reveal an outpouring of God’s intervention? If God is in it… there will be justice to His enemies and mercy to millions of recipients of His grace.

May God’s Word direct each of us, as we pray for our heavenly Father’s WILL to be done on EARTH as it IS done in heaven because ALL authority has been given to JESUS, OUR Lord – our MASTER. And because He delegated His authority, through the agency of His Holy Spirit, to work through His Ekklesia – His called out adopted children, we can come boldly to the throne of the King of the universe. We can ask for His guidance in our obedient actions. With a humble heart, we can KNOW that He will always be faithful to use us in accomplishing HIS will for HIS glory.

And a critical part of our Biblical mission is to rediscover our legacy of spiritual warfare in a corrupt society.

Critical times require critical thinking. The art of Biblical war absolutely hinges on knowing the patterns of God’s unchanging nature. The wisdom of those patterns are clear directions… but they’ve been obscured by teachings that have been labeled as “post-modern Christianity.”  Remember God’s clear direction to Joshua?  He was assigned the leadership of Israel’s armed and trained young men as they crossed the Jordan, preparing to conquer Canaan.

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:7

And what did that involve?

The Book of God’s Teachings (called the Torah) was to be woven into all of Joshua’s talk.  His meditation both day and night, would enable him to do everything written in it.  And that, in turn, assured his prosperity and success.

Imagine having God’s Angel tell YOU to “Be strong and of good courage” and to “not be afraid.”

And the truth is the same for us if we belong to Jesus and are truly born of God’s Spirit. We don’t need to be dismayed, because the LORD our God is with us wherever we go!  Joshua 1:7-9

Almighty God is able to equip His saints with the Truth, but only if they listen to it and do it.  Whatever we call believing “Faith”… without corresponding actions … it’s dead – useless, powerless.  Jesus said in His prayer for His disciples, “sanctify them (set them apart as your peculiar people) by the Truth. Your Word is Truth” (John 17:17).

When his disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, let’s not forget the Biblical solution. Paul made it clear in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes by hearing, and (specifically) by hearing the word of Christ (the Messiah – God’s only anointed Redeemer of all mankind).

 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find (the) faith on the earth?” Luke 18:6-8

Think about that. If Jesus came to you and me today, would He find us living the confident faith that He prescribed to Joshua?  

We have battle assignments to actively engage with the mountains of influence in our world today. To do that, like any soldier, we must submit to be trained. In the Ekklesia (church), that Jesus established on the authority of His ownership of the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 16:18-19), that means, denying our tendency to idolize ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him. Like Joshua, we have orders.  Learn His word. Speak His word. Meditate on His word day and night. Be strong. Be courageous. Know your God intimately. … And that takes discipline.  Victory has no shortcuts. We learn God’s ways by personally studying His word… like our life depends on it.

Psalm 2 is so timely for the hour we’re witnessing today.

“Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?”

All the modern English translations rightly translate “ethnos” (heathen in KJV) as “nations.”  It’s the ethnic people groups of the nations that we all witness in angry confusion or “rage.”  The NLT renders the second part of that statement as: “Why do they waste their time with futile plans?”

“Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.” Psalm 96:3-5

We all need to wake up and pay attention to what God’s Word is alerting us to see here. What does the unthinking man miss?

Psalm 92 assures us:

“A brutish man (a senseless, stupid, unthinking simpleton) doesn’t know; neither does a fool understand this. That when the wicked sprouted up like grass and all who did iniquity flourished, it was only that they might be destroyed forevermore. But You, O LORD, are on high forever. For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, … will perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered.” Psalm 92:6-9

We modern Christians sometimes fail to see that the Lord hates the wicked with perfect hatred, (Psalm 139:22).  His peculiar people are called to recognize evil and overcome it with good (Romans 12:21). 

Read the context of one of my most oft-repeated prayers in Scripture, Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Now, listen closely to the context of that prayer.

“Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! [​​Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.] ​​For they speak against You wickedly; ​​Your enemies take Your name in vain. ​​Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? ​​And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? ​​I hate them with perfect hatred; ​​I count them my enemies.” Psalm 139:23-24

A major spiritual insight is sorely missing in much of today’s religious society – DISCERNMENT.  Even in many well-meaning, spiritually active Christian circles, even basically Godly people don’t have the discernment to sort out what’s good and what’s evil.  Like Isaiah predicted, there will be woe (anguish, distress, and sadness) to those who “call evil good and good evil.” Why? Because they don’t bother even thinking about “the work of the LORD or the operation of his hands” (see Isaiah 5:20 and 12).  That’s precisely WHY they lack knowledge and rush to their own captivity (bondage and imprisonment) under the sworn enemies of their existence (5:13).

It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots – to see the cause of a nation’s captivity.  For America, our drunken obsession with success and affluence has done just what it did to Solomon’s Israel. God’s people fell into the idolatry of satisfying their appetites. Self-centered preoccupation with entertainment dominates society. Our submission to the otherwise honorable pursuit of knowledge, yet without God, led to atheistic compromising with truth.  Abandoning the fight to keep the Bible, prayer and godly morality central in our children’s daily education, we took the bait of pride to have lavish federally-run schools. We got disastrous results… both academically and morally.

So, God allowed a manipulated public health crisis to virtually close under-performing public schools. And that wakes up a sizeable percentage of caring parents, who switch to parent and home-guided education.

Millions of people who typically don’t participate in civic voting are becoming engaged in what’s really true. The fruit of corrupted government policies railroaded our nation’s forgotten vision of moral and religious discipline to the brink of utter ruin.

Millions of younger people are seeing first-hand the fierce insanity of ideologically misguided socialist-Marxists. God is sovereignly opening minds and hearts to see what happens to influential humans who arrogantly set themselves up to be demi-god-like tyrants on Mount Olympus. They’re heading for a Haman-like destruction of their own making.  And, just like Queen Esther, many of God’s chosen – even if unlikely – servants are being raised up for His special assignments for His kingdom in “such a time as this.”

Discernment, guided by God’s Holy Spirit, allows us to see through the smoke so we can know the motivation behind the words and actions of people. More importantly, discernment enables us to see what God forged for good, even when the devil intended evil. Much of our perception depends on what we’ve voluntarily subjected ourselves to perceive. If you listen to all the dismal reports of the corrupted news analysts, you could be easily depressed and confused. But if you listen to God’s Word and His anointed prophetic ambassadors who rely on the genuine and clear authority of that Word, your hope will be steadfast, and your trust in God’s providence will be unshakeable.

A Providential Turning Point in American History through a controversial man

God miraculously gave America a surprisingly Samson-like, popular leader to begin rebuilding the broken-down walls of our nation’s freedoms. Those who reject the fact that God set’s up and puts down leaders of nations will never see this (Psalm 75:7). Discernment tells us that this miraculous modern turning point will bring God glory. A divinely gifted strong man has no selfish reason to put himself in the caldron of every demonic attack from hell. And what God has proven by His deliverance through each goliath challenge from heaven’s enemies, is the growing confidence that God himself is raising up a new generation of courageous warriors.  They refuse to back down to the evil reports of the 10 spies a generation ago. That generation failed to see God’s planned victory over the demonically-held territory that God equipped His warriors to occupy THEN for His Kingdom and for His glory. A new generation is being sharpened with divine gifts and supernatural courage to destroy the works of the enemy and restore the ancient foundations of Kingdom principles. This new Re-awakening is reestablishing the brave pioneering spirit that toughened the men God used to make this nation a beacon that brought the gospel of Christ to more tribes of people than ever in history.

Let God’s Spirit give you discernment to hear the plans He has for your generation. When the demonically inspired enemies of God seem to forecast a hopelessly evil agenda, join the millions of Godly intercessors who are expectantly standing – engaged in the battle. Use your historically unique privilege to influence your public servants for truth and justice. Remind them – they are accountable to answer to a higher authority. The secular idols of their changing world, to which they’re tempted to bow down, will soon crumble. Only righteousness will endure. And the season for the shaking of every power that can BE shaken is upon us now.

We must not miss a key principle of God’s eternal nature.  He’s just. And He expects His people to expectantly trust in His judgment in the affairs of nations in this present time…  Nations are NOT judged in the distant future… people ARE.

Speaking of the “evil-doers” who are “workers of iniquity” God’s psalmist proclaims…

“​​He has brought on them their own iniquity, ​​And (He) shall cut them off in their own wickedness; ​​The LORD our God shall cut them off.” Psalm 94:23

Read Psalm 94:8 and following…

“Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise? The LORD knows the thoughts of man, ​​that they are futile.”

12 ​​Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD, ​​And teach out of Your Torah,

13 ​​That You may give him rest from the days of adversity, ​​Until… the pit is dug for the wicked.

14 ​​For the LORD will not cast off His people, ​​nor will He forsake His inheritance.

15 ​​But judgment will return to righteousness, ​​and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 ​​Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? ​​Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

17 ​​Unless the LORD had been my help, ​​my soul would soon have settled in silence.

Psalm 94:8, 12-17

President Trump said on Nov 7, 2020, after proven, hard-working patriots, worked tirelessly to challenge the fraudulent manipulation of the 2020 general election,

“This is about more than just honoring the votes of 74 MILLION Americans who voted for me. It’s about ensuring that Americans can have faith in this Election, and in all future Elections.”

President Donald J Trump

Our President’s declaration is the bedrock on which we must stand, no matter what the cost, if we are to keep what our fathers have died to preserve.

Don’t minimize or EVER forget that stand. It must be the stand that every God-fearing and true American MUST take … if he claims to be faithful to the law of the land – our Constitution. That means something. 

The United States of America is unique in its assignment of leadership responsibility.  Hired bureaucrats are not your leaders. They’re our civil servants, hired to do a job honestly. Elected representatives at every level – local, state and federal – are NOT your leaders! They are our civil magistrates, elected temporarily to REPRESENT our interests and to obey the same Constitution to which we all submit our respect and duty to obey.  As Christians who submit to God’s authority, we admit that Jesus Christ is our supreme leader. As our founding fathers declared openly, “We have no king but Jesus.” As true Americans, we admit that our providentially conceived Constitution puts the responsibility of our nation on We the People.

And, like our founders, we Christians – of all people – should understand the motto of our Founders: Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

That’s WHY those three words are written in huge bold letters.  WE are the sovereign initiators of our Constitutional Republic. If we claim, in any way, to have respect for a Biblical mandate to submit to authority, we MUST also admit that all delegated and elected representative governors or agents of our land are held accountable to the constitutional process that WE THE PEOPLE have established in the Constitution. WE THE PEOPLE MUST do our rightful job of enforcing those delegated duties in every way that the Constitution provides. And Christians, of all citizens – no matter what their doctrinal beliefs – should insist, by their very essence, to be governed by honesty and morality, that their Christian peers take their responsibility of citizenship seriously! If you and I, as Christian citizens, have any desire to assure that our grandchildren have the freedom to exercise their Biblically-derived human rights of life, liberty and property, how can we NOT participate in the legal process of governing ourselves with moral restraint to assure our peaceful existence? How else can we expect to provide our families with the opportunity to work for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom and the everyday exercise of our Biblical faith?

Rediscovering our legacy of spiritual warfare is a big part of what God is doing today to reestablish the fear of God in our largely immoral society. But that warfare is foreign to those misguided souls, who think New Testament Christianity is passive.  Worse, they forget that God’s vengeance is not real on the corrupted enemies of truth. You shall know them by their fruit.

Over 248 years ago, our nation’s founders made banners declaring “Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.”

The American people are at a crossroads.  They must choose either liberty, or slavery. There’s no polite compromising solution left. The orchestrated distortions of media pawns have so many unwise people submitting to fear that massive civil conflict is practically inevitable, requiring trained, peace-keeping intervention.  But remember… the tyrants are outnumbered. They’re unsupported by our constitution when they disobey the law of the land… and they know it. They can NOT rule over us if we refuse to obey. And if we humbly appeal to heaven for God’s divine intervention of justice on the unjust, those tyrants will soon discover the “fear of God.”

Why does a significant slice of humanity always choose slavery over freedom in exchange for perceived “safety.” It’s because they’re bullied into cowardice.  And, if you’re wondering what it takes to stop this madness… remember it does NOT take a majority to transform a society. Jesus started with 12. While God’s people rally to pray Biblically for God’s protection for the just… and justice for enemies of truth… we know historically, that as society is pushed to a breaking point, it takes less than 5% to build major movement in the right direction. When 10% actively resist, full-scale upheaval results in an Awakening Reformation. This is why we all need to be humbly calling our like-minded friends to pray, even if our church leaders are not doing it. Pray Biblically from Psalms for the deliverance of God’s people and the rightfully deserved justice upon His enemies.

“Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. ​​My defense is of God, ​​Who saves the upright in heart. ​​God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day…​

​​Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. ​​He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. ​​His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. ​​I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.’

Psalm 7:9-17

Pray Psalm 28:3-6 like your life depends on it.

“Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. ​​Do not take me away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts. ​​Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors; give them according to the work of their hands. ​​Render to them what they deserve. ​​Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, nor the operation of His hands, ​​He shall destroy them and not build them up. ​​Blessed be the LORD, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! Psalm 28:3-6

…and Psalm 40:13-16

“Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; ​​O LORD, make haste to help me! ​​Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; ​​Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. ​​Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, “Aha, aha!”  ​​Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; ​​Let such as love Your salvation say continually, ​​“The LORD be magnified!” Psalm 40:13-16

Even though Queen Esther did her brave intercession, the people had to defend themselves

Even when God used Esther to open the king’s eyes to Haman’s wicked plot, the people of God had to stand and fight against any enemies who might dare to try to exterminate them.

Once Esther took her step of faith, things the king could not yet see began to be revealed. Her obedience caused the king to be able to see, hear, discover, and take action. Haman’s plan was foiled. He was impaled on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. And the people of God were granted the ability to fight back against their enemies, thus being preserved as a nation.

 This is an incredible story that seems to be playing out in America today. We, the praying church, are playing the role of Esther. The Holy Spirit is guiding us. Our obedience in intercession is causing our enemies’ plans to be revealed. Our prayers are encouraging those in secular positions who need strength and encouragement – President Trump and so many others.

When our cause is just, God’s people have the confident authority to trust in their God who will do exploits in His name, and for His glory.

“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32

“The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.” Isaiah 32:17

 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.” Psalm 89:14

“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him..” (Isaiah 30:18 ESV)

Now… it’s your turn… Go to ReclaimYourLegacy.com and put in the search term for today’s episode… “Spiritual Warfare in A Corrupt Society.”  Copy the link and send it to the friend who you know could use a dose of Biblical courage. And when you do that, pray that God’s Holy Spirit would confirm His truth to the heart of those willing to hear Him. 

As you’ve heard in today’s discussion, there are aspects of spiritual warfare that some of us haven’t considered much before.  A big one is God’s righteous justice that we are invited to personally… and vocally… agree with in prayer.  Another is urging our peers to participate in our American privilege to hold our public servants accountable by our deliberate actions in the process of American civics.

We all need to be participating… and that does take effort and some of our time.  That’s why I take seriously God’s providential guidance as I prepare this time together each week on Reclaiming Your Legacy.  And that’s why you have the opportunity, even now, to pray, asking God for His directions in doing your part in the process of planting His Word in the lives of those who have ears to hear what God is saying through our humble efforts.  If, in that process, the Lord guides you to help us continue this mission for listeners each week, I want you to know that your gifts are deeply appreciated.  You have several ways you can communicate and contribute to this mission. You’ll find them when you click on the “Donate” button at https://reclaimyourlegacy.com/donate/